Iowa subdues Gophers, 52-28
The Hawkeyes stymied the nation's No. 1 rushing offense for their seventh win.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Ed Hinkel caught four touchdown passes to set a Kinnick Stadium record, Damian Sims scored on a 71-yard run and Iowa shut down the nation's No. 1 rushing offense Saturday in beating Minnesota 52-28.
Iowa (7-4, 5-3 Big Ten) improved its bowl prospects with its fifth straight victory over Minnesota, which lost star running back Laurence Maroney in the first quarter and never recovered after falling behind 35-0 less than 25 minutes into the game.
The Hawkeyes set the tone by dropping Minnesota (7-4, 4-4) for losses on three of its first six running plays. The Gophers, who came in averaging a nation-leading 295 yards a game rushing, were held to 63 yards in the first half and 129 for the game.
Hodge leads defense
Minnesota had outrushed Iowa 337-6 in its 29-27 loss last year and the Hawkeyes had said they were determined not to let that happen again. Linebacker Abdul Hodge led the defensive charge with 19 tackles, 14 in the first half.
On offense, Iowa did pretty much what it wanted in compiling a season-high 613 yards. Drew Tate completed his first seven passes and the line gave Sims and Albert Young plenty of running room. The Hawkeyes were so efficient that wide receiver Clinton Solomon even threw a touchdown pass.
Hinkel caught touchdown passes of 46, 38 and 3 yards from Tate and 26 yards from Solomon, who was a quarterback in high school. Tate also threw a 6-yard TD pass to Scott Chandler and finished 19-of-32 for 351 yards and one interception.
Purdue 41, Indiana 14
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Purdue took advantage of five Indiana turnovers, getting three touchdown runs from Kory Sheets and two from Dorien Bryant.
The Boilermakers (5-6, 3-5) claimed the Old Oaken Bucket for the fourth straight year and the eighth time in Joe Tiller's nine seasons as coach. Purdue won its final three games of the season but failed to reach a bowl game for the first time in Tiller's tenure.
Indiana (4-7, 1-7) allowed 27 points in a quarter for the third straight week and ended the year with six consecutive losses, its last looking as dismal as it appeared on the one working scoreboard at Memorial Stadium.
Hoosiers quarterback Blake Powers was picked off three times, finishing 11-of-24 for 150 yards although he scored on touchdown runs of 9 and 8 yards. Indiana also lost two fumbles.
Sheets, who replaced the injured Jerod Void early Saturday, carried 19 times for 137 yards while Bryant scored on two of six runs. Quarterback Curtis Painter was 14-of-27 for 124 yards and had 10 carries for 60 yards.
But Purdue made it look easy. After trailing 7-0, the Boilermakers capitalized on Powers' first interception with a 25-yard TD run from Sheets that gave Purdue a 10-7 lead.
Three plays later, Powers was picked off again and Sheets converted with a 5-yard TD run.
Northwestern 38, Illinois 21
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Northwestern's offense rolled up three dozen first downs and 596 yards, but a third-quarter interception by a defensive tackle was Randy Walker's pick for play of the day.
"It was that spark, that catalyst. We gave our offense another possession," the Wildcats coach said. "It was huge, probably the play of the game."
Barry Cofield's pick of a Tim Brasic pass after the Illini had driven to the Northwestern 9 deflated the offense and Illinois, which had stayed with the Wildcats throughout the first half, never threatened again.
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